Tesla Gets Court Approval To Continue Work At Berlin Gigafactory

Tesla Inc. TSLA got a German court's approval on Thursday to continue the construction of its Berlin manufacturing plant, Deutsche Welle reported.

What Happened

The preparatory work — on what would be the automaker's first factory in Europe — was halted when the higher administrative court of Berlin-Brandenburg granted an injunction against Tesla clearing the Grünheide forest last Saturday, according to DW. The court has now rejected an appeal by environmental activists, in particular, Green League Brandenburg organization, which claimed that the Tesla factory would hurt the local wildlife and the water supply in the area.

Why It Matters

Tesla had purchased 741 acres of land from the Brandenburg state government for about $44 million, as reported by DW, and plans to erase about 227 acres of this forest land to build the so-called "gigafactory" announced last November. About 250 people took to the streets in Berlin in January, protesting the construction of the manufacturing plant. Tesla CEO Elon Musk defended the company at the time, saying that the "net environmental impact will be extremely positive" from the automaker's presence at the site.

Sounds like we need to clear up a few things! Tesla won't use this much net water on a daily basis. It's possibly a rare peak usage case, but not an everyday event. Also, this is not a natural forest — it was planted for use as cardboard & only a small part will be used for GF4.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 25, 2020

The San Carlos-based automaker has said that the gigafactory would employ more than 10,000 people and produce at least 500,000 cars each year.

Price Action

Tesla's shares closed 1.96% lower at $899.41 on Thursday. The stock slipped further 1.05% in the after-hours session at $890.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tesla.com